Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (Tuesday) that the total assets of the Exchange Fund amounted to HK$3,107.0 billion as at 31 August 2014, HK$27.8 billion higher than that at the end of July 2014.  Foreign currency assets increased by HK$28.2 billion while Hong Kong dollar assets decreased by HK$0.4 billion. 

The rise in foreign currency assets was mainly due to the purchase of foreign currencies with Hong Kong dollars, valuation gains on foreign currency investments and the issuance of Certificates of Indebtedness.  The decline in Hong Kong dollar assets was mainly due to fiscal drawdowns, which was largely offset by additional placements received from HKSAR government funds and statutory bodies. 

The Currency Board Account shows that the Monetary Base at the end of August 2014 was HK$1,338.9 billion, increased by HK$23.8 billion, or 1.8%, from the end of July 2014.  The rise was mainly due to increases in the Aggregate Balance and the outstanding amount of Certificates of Indebtedness. 

The amount of Backing Assets increased by HK$24.6 billion, or 1.7%, to HK$1,434.5 billion.  The rise was mainly attributable to the purchase of US dollars under the currency board system and an increase in assets connected with the issuance of Certificates of Indebtedness.  The backing ratio decreased from 107.21% at the end of July 2014 to 107.14% at the end of August 2014. 

Attachment
Annex 1 : Abridged Balance Sheet of the Exchange Fund
Annex 2 : Currency Board Account

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
30 September 2014

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At present, four press releases relating to the Exchange Fund’s data are issued by the HKMA each month.  Three of these releases are issued to disseminate monetary data in accordance with the International Monetary Fund’s Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS).  The fourth press release, on the Exchange Fund’s Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account, is made in accordance with the HKMA’s policy of maintaining a high level of transparency.  For the month of September 2014, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows: